Minimum people required for Jumuah Jamaat

What is the source for minimum number of people required to pray in congregation behind the imam in the different Madhahib?

please give the source for each madhab, because the salafi sect claim.

"There is no proven evidence (daleel) which states that a specific number is required; for the prayer to be valid it is sufficient for there to be three or more people. It is not permissible for a person who is obliged to pray Jumu’ah to pray Zuhr in its place when there are less than forty people present – according to the correct scholarly view"  

this is the link http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/7718

http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/16820

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh 

Hereunder is a summary of the minimum number of Muqtadis (followers) necessitated by each Maddhab for the validity of Jumuah Salah:  

·        1.Hanafis: there must be a minimum of three followers besides the Imam. Each follower must be such a person who fulfills the requirements of Imamat for other men (i.e. he must be a sane mature male). If one of the followers from the three does not fulfill this requirement e.g. a female or child etc, then the minimum requirement will be unfulfilled; thus, performing JumuahSalah will not be valid. Among the mentioned substantiations for this view are:

o       The word Al-Jumuah itself indicates to the fact that there must be a Jama’ah (congregation) to establish this Salah. Based upon this fact, there is a consensus among all Madhhabs that Jumuah Salah must be performed in congregation. In Arabic grammar, the smallest number used for the plural form is three. Since a congregation is a prerequisite for this Salah, this condition must be fulfilled before the injunction becomes binding on every individual. Therefore, one Imam and two Muqtadis will not suffice because in respect to each individual, the prerequisite of three other people have not been fulfilled. However, according to one opinion within the Hanafi Madhhab, namely the view of Imam Abu Yusuf رحمه الله, two Muqtadis will suffice to fulfill this condition. (Bada’i al-Sana’i, vol. 1 pg. 601, Dar al-Kutub Deoband)

o       Another indicative corroboration for this lies in the Ayah,

إذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

“When the proclamation is made for Salah on the day of Jumuah, hasten towards the remembrance of Allah.”

This Ayah states that when the Muazzin proclaims the Azan on Fridays, the people must hasten towards the Jumuah Salah and Khutbah, which is referred to as the “remembrance of Allah.” The Arabic verbal form of hasten is اسْعَوْا which is in the plural form. This necessitates a minimum of three people in accordance to the rules of Arabic grammar. The fact that the Imam will be performing the Khutbah which is considered as the “remembrance of Allah,” excludes him from the injunction of hastening in the mentioned verse. (Tabyeen al-Haqa’iq, vol.1 pg 532, Ilmiyyah) 

    

·        2. Malikis: the minimum number of followers is twelve local inhabitants of that particular locality excluding the Imam. Substantiations for this view include the following:

o        Jabir رضى الله عنه states that whilst we were performing Jumuah with Nabi صلى الله عليه و سلم a caravan arrived causing all the people besides twelve to scatter. Thereafter the following verse was revealed, “And when they see some merchandise or amusement, they break away to it, and leave you (O prophet,) standing” (Sahih Bukhari v. 3 pg. 10, Dar al-Fikr)

عن جابر رضي الله عنه قال  : أقبلت عير ونحن نصلي مع النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم الجمعة فانفض الناس إلا اثني عشر رجلا فنزلت هذه الآية 

{ وإذا رأوا تجارة أو لهوا انفضوا إليها وتركوك قائما 

·        3. Shafis / Hambalis: there must be a minimum of forty followers upon whom Jumuah Salah is obligatory. Imam Ahmad R.A also has other views spanning from necessitating a minimum of 50 followers to only 3; however, a minimum of 40 seems to be the accepted view as stated in Al-Mughni of Ibn Qudama. Substantiations mentioned for this view are:

o       It is accepted that a specified minimum number of Muqtadis is a prerequisite for the establishment of Jumuah. The original Salah stipulated by the Shar'iah to be performed during this time is actually Zuhr; therefore, it will not be permissible to move away from this standard default ruling without a Shar’i proof. Imam Bayhaqi presents a narration from Abdullah ibn Mas’ud رضى الله عنه which states that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم established Jumuah Salah in Madina Munawwarah and there were forty people present. This is coupled with the Hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم ,

صَلُّوا كَمَا رَأَيْتُمُونِي أُصَلِّي

“Perform Salah as you see me perform Salah.”

Therefore, this number serves as the proof to move away from the default ruling of performing Zuhr and necessitating the performance of Jumuah. (Hashiyah al-Sharwani ala Tuhfah al-Muhtaj, v. 2 pg. 470, Dar al-Fikr)

o       Another substantiation is the following narration of Abu Dawud,

عن عبد الرحمن بن كعب بن مالك وكان قائد أبيه بعدما ذهب بصره عن أبيه كعب بن مالك أنه كان إذا سمع النداء يوم الجمعة ترحم لأسعد بن زرارة فقلت له إذا سمعت النداء ترحمت لأسعد بن زرارة قال لأنه أول من جمع بنا في هزم النبيت من حرة بني بياضة في نقيع يقال له نقيع الخضمات قلت كم أنتم يومئذ ؟ قال أربعون

Abdur Rahman ibn Ka’b ibn Malik who used to guide his father (Ka’b) after he lost his sight narrates from his father Ka’b ibn Malik that whenever he (Ka’b) used to hear the Azan on Friday, he would pray for mercy upon Sa’d ibn Zurarah. Thus, I asked him, “Whenever you hear the Azan you pray for mercy upon Sa’d ibn Zurarah?” He said, “This is because he was the first person to perform Jumuah Salah for us in Hazm al-Nabeet in Harrah Bani Bayadah which is also referred to as Naqi’ al-Khadimat (place name).” I asked, “How many were you?” He said, “Forty.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 1 pg. 153, H.M. Sa’eed)

The substantiations mentioned above are by no means the only proofs of the various Madhhabs. There are many other proofs, arguments and counter arguments from the Scholars of the four Madhhabs. The above substantiations are presented to merely give an example of some of their proofs. The Imams of the four Madhhabs applied their Ijtihad (juristic inference) to arrive at their individual conclusions in this matter. In that aspect all of them are correct and will be rewarded based upon the following Hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم ; “When a judge / jurist issues a verdict after implementing his juristic inference, he will be rewarded two fold if he was correct and he will receive one reward if he erred.” (Sahih Muslim v. 2 pg. 76, Rashidiyah)

عن عمرو بن العاص : أنه سمع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال :

 إذا حكم الحاكم فاجتهد ثم أصاب فله أجران وإذا حكم فاجتهد ثم أخطأ فله أجر 

It is the duty of every Muslim to follow and adhere to his respective Imam and Madhhab. He should disregard the views expressed on any website which directly or indirectly calls for the desertion of the four Madhhabs. By calling for non-adherence to these four Madhhabs, such people are either promoting picking and choosing the view they wish to act upon based upon their whims and fancies or they are indirectly claiming to have more knowledge that these eminent Imams. Each of the four Imams was an ocean of knowledge in his own right who mastered the various sciences of Islamic knowledge required to qualify as a Mujtahid. The fact that the Muslim Ummah for the past 1300 years accepted them as Mujtahids and followed their juristic rulings is ample testimony to their lofty status. Moving away from the ways of our pious predecessors can be nothing but sheer misguidance and mere obedience to one’s desires.

Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم has clearly prophesized the degeneration of the level of knowledge in the following Hadith: 

“Verily Allah will not seize knowledge by suddenly dispossessing it from his bondsmen. However, he will seize knowledge through the seizure of the Ulama (through their demise) until there will come a time where not a single Scholar will remain and the masses will take the ignorant as their leaders. They will ask them and they will issue verdicts without any knowledge; thus, they will themselves be misguided and will misguide others.” (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 1 pg. 39, Dar al-Fikr)

إن الله لا يقبض العلم انتزاعا ينتزعه من العباد ولكن يقبض العلم بقبض العلماء حتى إذا لم يبق عالما اتخذ الناس رؤوسا جهالا فسئلوا فأفتوا بغير علم فضلوا وأضلوا

“Verily, among the signs of the Hour is that knowledge will be lifted, ignorance will be widespread, wine will be drunk and adultery will become rampant.” (Sahih Bukhari vol. 1 pg. 33, Dar al-Fikr)

عن أنس قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ( إن من أشراط الساعة أن يرفع العلم ويثبت الجهل ويشرب الخمر ويظهر الزنا )

Anas رضى الله عنه states, “I will relate to you a Hadith which no one else after me will relate to you. I heard Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم saying, ‘Among the signs of the Hour is that knowledge will dwindle, ignorance will become widespread, adultery will become rampant, women will increase in number and men will decrease in number to such an extent that there will be one man to care for fifty women.” (Ibid)

عن أنس قال لأحدثنكم حديثا لا يحدثكم أحد بعدي سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول 

 : ( من أشراط الساعة أن يقل العلم ويظهر الجهل ويظهر الزنا وتكثر النساء ويقل الرجال حتى يكون لخمسين امرأة القيم الواحد ) 

These Ahadith prove that knowledge will suffer a gradual decline and that it will take place through the demise of the former eminent Scholars. In our time, we are already witnessing the prevalence of adultery, increase of wine consumption and other intoxicants and the spread of utter ignorance in matters of Deen. The innovative ideology of abandoning the four Madhhabs, consequentially necessitates the belief that the Muslim Ummah for the past 1300 hundred years was misguided and in manifest error. It necessitates the belief that only now Allah Ta’ala decided to “guide” the Ummah by inspiring this new breed of so-called “scholars” who encourage every individual, irrespective of his level of knowledge or lack thereof, to decide on delicate juristic matters of the Shar'iah through his own “research.” Terms such as “blind following” are used to refer to the practice of the Muslim Ummah for the past thirteen centuries. English translations of portions of Bukhari and Muslim are freely distributed to mere laymen and they are expected and persuaded to derive their own juristic rulings. This is something that even the highest caliber of Ulama of the past such as Hafiz Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, Allamah Nawawi and Ibn Abd al-Barr, despite their mastery in the various Islamic sciences, refrained from doing; on the contrary, they decided to follow one of the four Imams. This new ideology is clearly in contrast to the understood meaning of the previous Ahadith. The knowledge, level of understanding and piety of the people of today do not reach even a fraction of the levels of the Ulama of the past. Therefore, how could one logically consider his personal view or the view of a person claiming to be a scholar over the views of the Imams?

An unbiased and impartial person can easily understand the need to adhere to one particular Madhhab. There are many other examples in our daily life where we resign our trust and reliance to the knowledge of specialists in a particular field (e.g. medicine, law, mechanics etc.). Allah Ta’ala mentions in the Holy Quran, 

فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

“Then ask the people of knowledge if you yourselves don’t know.”

Why should the case of our religion, the most important aspect of our life, be any different? Every field has its specialist and the specialists of the Shar'iah were the Imams and Mujtahids of the past. They codified the entire Shar'iah and included the most delicate and intricate of rulings in their compilations. It is now the obligation of every Muslim to adhere to their rulings relying on their knowledge and mastery of the Shar’iah and concentrate more on their devotion, reverence and worship of Allah Ta’ala which is the purpose of the injunctions of the Shar'iah in the first place. 

And Allah knows best

Wassalam 

Ml. Yusuf bin Yaqub,
Student Darul Iftaa

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah